Aviation

Our international aviation practice – made up of specialist aviation finance, leasing, M&A, insurance and dispute lawyers – advises on the full range of legal, tax and regulatory issues facing the aviation industry. Through our global network of CMS offices, we work closely with airports, airlines, creditors, operating lessors, insurers and manufacturers in many of the world’s major aviation jurisdictions. 

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Recent Articles

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    01.12.2023
    United Kingdom

    Supreme Court clarifies position on uncontroverted evidence - TUI Ltd v Griffiths

    The Supreme Court has now clarified the position in relation to uncontroverted evidence.After nine years, TUI Ltd v Griffiths [2023] UKSC 48 has reached a conclusion which most practitioners were expecting. Subject to certain important exceptions, evidence which is not agreed must be challenged by cross-examination. This is an essential feature of our adversarial system and is required to ensure fairness to the parties, the witness (whose evidence a judge is invited to reject) and the court.Although Griffiths concerned expert witness evidence, the principle established applies to the evidence of...
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    01.12.2023
    United Kingdom

    Court of Appeal revisits its decision on mandatory ADR - Mr Churchill v Merthyr Tydfill County Borough Council

    In a much-anticipated judgment, the Court of Appeal has returned to the question of mandatory non-court-based dispute resolution (or ADR, as most people still call it), which was previously considered by the Court of Appeal 20 years ago in Halsey[1].Two principal questions were considered: does the Court have the power to order the parties in Court proceedings to engage in some form of ADR? If so, in what circumstances?In determining that the Court does have that power, the judgment echoes the recent conclusion of the Civil Justice Council that mandatory ADR is not inconsistent with Article 6 of...
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    17.11.2023
    United Kingdom

    Proposed legislation would radically expand the UK’s class action regime

    15 November 2023 saw publication of two proposed amendments to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill that would have significant impacts on the UK’s class action regime:First, a proposed amendment, introduced by Sir Robert Buckland, to expand the jurisdiction of the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (the “CAT”) to consumer class actions (the “Buckland Amendment”).  At present, the CAT only has jurisdiction for competition class actions.Second, a proposal to reverse the effect of the Supreme Court’s decision in PACCAR, in relation to damages claims...
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    17.11.2023
    Middle East

    Sustainable Aviation Fuels – The Journey Towards Sustainable Aviation

    In 2022, the aviation industry accounted for approximately 2% of global CO2 emissions and nearly 800Mt of carbon dioxide. Decarbonisation remains a major challenge for the aviation industry and  sustainable aviation fuels (“SAF”) and hydrogen (to be discussed at the COP28 Green Zone at the Global Sustainable Aviation Forum) are considered as important in reaching net-zero by 2050.Concerning hydrogen, the two main propulsion methods are combustion and fuel cells. Combustion involves burning hydrogen instead of kerosene, in a modified gas turbine, while fuel cells involve electricity...
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  •  
    18.10.2023
    EU

    State aid: The Court of Justice of the EU annuls the judgment of the General Court in the Frankfurt-Hahn airport case

    The European Commission's decision of 31 July 2017  On 7 April 2017, Germany notified the Commission of its plan to grant operating aid to Frankfurt-Hahn airport to cover the deficit of its operator, Flughafen Frankfurt-Hahn GmbH (FFHG) for a transitional period of ten years beginning 4 April 2014. The notified aid involved a maximum amount of EUR 25.3 million to be paid between 2018 and 2022. This amount was to be reduced if the airport's actual losses during the transitional period proved lower than the maximum amount of aid.In its decision 31 of July 2017, the Commission decided that the...
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    11.10.2023
    Hungary

    Hungary sets cybersecurity fines in decree

    A Hungarian government decree (Government Decree 305/2023 (VII. 11.) on the amount of cybersecurity fines, detailed rules of procedure for the imposition and payment of fines) has set down the minimum and maximum fines imposed by the competent authority under the new Act XXIII of 2023 on Cybersecurity Certification and Cybersecurity Supervision. The Decree specifies the infringements that are punishable by fines and adapts the amount of each fine.Infringements and finesUnder the Decree, the competent authority issuing the certification will impose fines for breaches of EU and Hungarian legislation,...
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